Composite frame member with bushed aperture

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses an aperture-defining frame member, e.g., a window frame, comprising a rigid, frame-shaped reinforcement embedded in a covering of synthetic resinous material. An aperture is provided through the reinforcement in alignment with bores in the covering and a bushing extends through said bores and said aperture, the bushing being in sealing engagement with said bores. The bushing may be used to receive a fastener to secure the frame member to another member and the bushing may be in two parts, a first part having a hollow shank with a collar at one end thereof and a second part arranged to engage the end of the shank remote from the collar.

lJnited States Patent 1191 Sharp et al. Aug. 6, 1974 COMPOSITE FRAME MEMBER WITH 3,252,493 5/1966 Smith 52/617 BUSHED APERTURE 3,400,505 9/1968 Hart-Still 52/476 3,468,573 9/l969 Peter 52/475 rs: Herbert John Sharp, Greenford; 3,703,063 11 /1972 Budich 52/727 Victor William Stanley Humphrey, Radleit, both of England Primary ExaminerHenry C. Sutherland [73] Assigneez ARO Plastics Development Limited Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Merr1am, Marshall, Shapiro London, England & K1036 PP 310,843 The specification discloses an aperture-defining frame member, e.g., a window frame, comprising a rigid, 52 us. ca 52/727 52/208 52/703 frame-Shaped reinforcement embedded in a 52/721 of synthetic resinous material. An aperture is provided [5 Int. CL n through the reinforcement in alignment bOl'eS in [58] Field of 475 476 the covering and a bushing extends through said bores 5 72 and said aperture, the bushing being in sealing engagement with said bores. The bushing may be used to re- [56] References Cited ceive a fastener to secure the frame member to another member and the bushing may be in two parts, a UNITED STATES PATENTS first part having a hollow shank with a collar at one 2,327,585 8/1943 Ulrich 52/617 end th f and a Second part arranged to engage the :L'Pi end of the shank remote from the collar. 1. r 3,012,642 12/1961 Emmrich 52/727 4 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures 102 34 Q/ 97 se /23 as we 32 91 as a 105 100 as PATENTEB AUG Bl274 SHEET 2 OF 7 PATENTEB AUG 5 I974 SHEU t [1F 7 i H I PATENTED AUG 81974 sum 5 BF 7 mm Gm 08 v0 mw m8 0m PATENTED AUG 51974 SHEET '7 0F 7 This is a division of application Ser. No. 139,379, Filed May 3, 1971 now US. Pat. No. 3,225,995.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to making an aperture-defining frame member comprising a rigid, frame-shaped reinforcement embedded in a covering of synthetic resinous material, i.e. plastics material.

The invention has been developed in connection with window frames and in particular the type of window frame including an outer frame to be secured to a building and an inner frame pivotally or otherwise movably mounted on the outer frame. In such window frames the outer and inner frames will normally be rectangular. The invention is not limited to the production of such window frames and can be applied to aperture-defining frame members in general. Such frame members may be endless, e.g. rectangular or polygonal, or may be open frame members such as, for example, a door frame which comprises two parallel members with a third member which joins the one ends of the two members while the other ends of the two parallel members are unjoined. The term aperture-defining frame members is used herein to include both open and closed frame members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide an aperturedefining frame member of the construction described above in which bushings are provided in the frame member whereby the latter can easily be fixed to another member to form an assembly. In a window frame, for example, the bushings may be provided to enable the window frame to be secured easily to a supporting structure by passing fastening members through the bushings into the supporting structure.

The invention has a further advantage in that the sealing of the bushings to the covering protects the reinforcement from attack if, as is often the case, the reinforcement is of a metal which is subject to atmospheric attack. This is particularly important in connection with window frames which are of course exposed to the atmosphere.

According to the invention there is provided an aperture defining frame member comprising a rigid, frameshaped reinforcement embedded in a covering of synthetic resinous material, the reinforcement presenting a transverse cross-section having opposed sides each having an outwardly directed groove with diverging side walls, at least one bushing of synthetic resinous material extending through aligned bores in the covering and in the reinforcement, the bores in the covering being of larger diameter than the bore in the reinforcement which extends between said opposed sides and terminates in openings in the side walls of the grooves, the bushing having a central portion received in the bore in the reinforcement and end portions having cylindrical parts received in sealing engagement with the bores in the covering and conical parts in sealing engagement with the side walls of the grooves adjacent to said openings.

Preferably, the bushing is in two parts, a first part having a hollow shank with a collar at one end thereof and a second part arranged to engage the end of the shank remote from the collar, the bushing may be fixed in position by inserting the first part into one bore of an aligned pair of bores so that the shank passes through the aperture, sealing the collar in the first bore, and inserting the second part into the other bore of said aligned pair of bores and sealing said second part to the other bore and to the other end of the shank.

The bushing or the parts thereof may be adhered in the bores or may be welded in the bores by solvent, friction or ultra-sonic welding. If it is not desired to place bushings in all of the aligned pairs of bores such bores may be closed by plugs of synthetic resinous material which close the bores and protect the reinforcement.

The invention also includes an aperture-defining frame member fastened to another member to form an assembly by fasteners passing through the busings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 2 is an elevation similar to FIG. 1 showing the inner frame of the window, the left hand part of FIG. I

2 being an elevation in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 5 and the right hand part of FIG. 2 being an elevation in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 5;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a hinge detail applicable to the frames of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section through a complete window embodying the outer and inner frames of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is a partial plan view of apparatus for producing a frame member embodying the invention;

FIG. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is a detailed section on the line 88 of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of part of a window frame as it leaves the mould;

FIG. 10 is a section through the frame of FIG. 1 showing the use of a guide bush to drill the reinforcement;

FIG. 11 is a section through a completed window frame embodying the invention showing a bush in position and a fastener passing through the bush securing the frame member to a bracket; and

FIG. 12 is a section through a frame member embodying the invention showing plugs received in a pair of aligned bores.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1 to S, the window frames thereshown comprises an outer frame 20 and an inner frame 21, each frame being generally rectangular and comprising a rectangular metal reinforcement embedded in a covering of synthetic resinous, i.e. plastics material. In FIG. 5 the reinforcement for the outer frame 20 is indicated at 22 and the covering at 23. The reinforcement for the inner frame 21 is indicated at 24 and the covering at 25. Each reinforcement 22 and 24 is in the form of a rectangular frame formed of solid metal sections which are mitred at their ends and are welded together. The shape of the section is similar for each frame and comprises, referring to the reinforcement 22, parallel straight sides 26, an inner side 27 having a groove 28 therein with diverging side walls 29 and an outer side 30 having a groove 31 therein with diverging side walls 32. The material of the reinforcement frame is preferably mild steel and the frame members can be cut off from a solid drawn section, their ends mitred and welded together.

The coverings 23 and 25 are formed with flanges as required.

Thus referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, the outer frame 20 is provided with a continuous, outwardly directed, peripheral flange 33 which is arranged to overlap the edge of an aperture 34 in a supporting wall 35. The lower half of the frame is provided with an inner flange 36 which is inwardly directed as is clear from FIGS. 1 and and which has discontinuities 37 to receive stays or fastener for the window and which are not shown.

The inner frame 21, referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, has a continuous, inwardly directed flange 38 on its outer surface as shown in FIG. 5 and over the upper part of a frame it has on its inner surface an inwardly directed flange 39 provided with discontinuities 40 for window stays and fasteners, not shown.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a detail of a hinge means which are provided on the frames and 21 whereby the frames may be hinged together. FIGS. 3 and 4 actually show part of the inner frame 21 and referring to these figures, a U-shaped metal strap 41 has its free ends 42 welded at 43 to one side 26 of the reinforcement 24 so that the limbs 44 of the strap are generally perpendicular to the side 26. The limbs 44 are provided with aligned apertures 45 and the strap is embedded in a part 46 of the covering 25. Received in the apertures 45 is a metal bushing 47 which is held in position by the plastics material of the part 45. The location of the hinge arrangement is indicated by the circle 48 in FIG. 2 and a similar hinge arrangement is provided on the outer frame 20 so that pivot pins may be passed through the aligned bushes such as 47 in the hinge parts thus to hinge the frame members together. In FIG. 5, the frame members are hinged about a horizontal axis. The part 46 of the covering is produced simultaneously with the main part of the covering as will be described below.

Referring to FIG. 5, the window is completed by a pane of glass 49 received in the inner frame 21 and held therein by a peripheral seal 50, peripheral beading 51 and a peripheral extrusion 52 secured to the inner frame and which locate the seal 50 and the beading 51. The outer periphery of the inner frame 20 also carries, in a groove 53 a seal 54 to seal with the inner periphery of the outer frame.

The manufacture of the frames will now be described in relation to FIGS. 6 to 9.

Referring first to FIGS. 6 and 7 the apparatus there shown comprises a lower platen 55 and an upper platen 56. The lower platen 55 carries a base member 57 which in turn carries an inner, mould-cavity-formingmember 58. The member 58 is rectangular and is made up of four elements, two of which are shown at 59 in FIG. 6, the elements meeting at a mitred corner 60.

The mould cavity is further defined by an outer mould-cavity-forming assembly 61 which comprises four members two of which are indicated at 62 in FIG. 6 and which are independently movable towards and away from the elements 59. When the elements 62 are in their inner positions they are as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and meet at a mitred corner 63.

The mould cavity is completed by a closing member 64 which is carried by the upper platen 56 through an upper support 65. The inner member 58, the outer assembly 61 and the closing member 64 together define, when the mould is closed, a mould cavity indicated at 66. This mould cavity is in the present case in the form of an endless channel of rectangular shape in plan view but it will be appreciated that the shape of the cavity will depend on the shape of the frame member to be made.

The upper support 65 carries a number of pins, one of which is indicated at 67 which are inclined to the vertical and each of which is received in a bore 68 in an outer support 69 to which a member 62 is secured. When the upper platen 56 is moved upwardly in FIG. 7 the engagement of the pins 67 in their bores 68 results in the outer support 69 moving outwardly in the direction of the arrow C in FIG. 7 and thus moving outwardly the members 62 of the assembly 61. As will be described this opens the mould cavity and allows the frame member to be removed and the closing member 64 is also moved upwardly with the upward movement of the upper platen 56. Each outer support has an inclined surface 70 which engages when the mould is closed with an inclined surface 71 on a wedging member 72 carried by the upper support 65 so that when the mould is closed the outer supports 69 are held against outward movement by engagement of the inclined surfaces.

To facilitate outward movement of the outer supports with their members 62 a spring arrangement is provided as shown in FIG. 8. Thus a plurality of springs, one of which is shown at 73 are located in bores such as 74 in the base member 57. Each spring 73 acts on a flange 75 of the outer support 69 tending to force the latter outwardly.

The reinforcement such as 22 or 24 is held in the mould cavity 66 by pin like projections mounted on the inner elements 59 and the outer members 62. Referring first to the inner members 59, the projections are indicated in FIGS. 6 and 7 at 76. Each projection is formed at its inner end with a toothed rack 77 which engages with a pinion 78. The pinion 78 is formed at the upper end of a shaft 79 shown in FIG. 7 mounted in a bearing sleeve 80 in the base member 57. The lower end of the shaft 79 is formed with a pinion 81 which is engaged by a toothed rack 82 formed at the end of a rod 83 operated by a pneumatic or hydraulic jack 84. As will be seen from FIG. 6, there are two rods 83 associated with each jack 84 and operated thereby, these two rods operating two shafts 79 to operate two adjacent projections 76. All the projections 76 are operated in a similar manner, as will be apparent from FIGS. 6 and 7, the free end of each projection being indicated at 85.

The outer members 62 also carry projections indicated at 86 and having conical ends 87. It will be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7 that each projection 86 is directly opposite to a projection 76 and the projections 76 and The mould assembly is provided with conventional means for introducing synthetic resinous material into the cavity, such means being indicated generally at 88 and cooling water passages 89 are provided in the various mould parts.

The manufacture of a frame member will now be described in general terms. A reinforcement such as 22 or 24 is first manufactured by cutting to the desired length a solid drawn section of the shape referred to above and mitring and welding the ends of the length to form a reinforcing frame. The mould shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 is opened by raising the upper platen 56 which raises the closing member 64 and moves outwardly the outer members 61 by engagement of the pins 67 in the bores 68 and the action of the springs 74 as described above. The projections 76 are retracted wholly into the elements 59 by operation of the pneumatic or hydraulic jacks 84 acting through the rods 83, the rack and pinions 82 and 81, the shafts 79, the pinions 78 and the racks 77. The reinforcing frame is then placed in the cavity and the pneumatic jacks 84 are operated to project the projections 76 into the cavity so that the conical ends 85 thereof engage in the groove 28 in the inner wall of the reinforcement and the conical end closely engages the diverging side wall 29. The mould is then closed by lowering the upper platen 56 which has the effect of moving inwardly the outer members 62 via the pins 67 and the bores 68 and against the action of the springs 74 and clamping said outer members in their inner positions through engagement of the inclined surfaces 70 and 71. Simultaneously, the closing member 64 of the cavity comes into engagement with the inner and outer members thus to close the cavity. As the outer members 62 move inwardly the projections 86 engage the reinforcement and the conical ends 87 of the projections engage in the groove 31 in the outer walls of reinforcement, the conical surfaces at the ends of the projections closely engaging the diverging walls 32 of the groove 31.

The reinforcement is thus located against movement in vertical directions in FIG. 7 by engagement of the conical ends 85 and 87 of the projections 76 and 86 in the grooves 28 and 31. The reinforcement is located against movement horizontally in FIG. 7 by the arrangement of the projections around the reinforcement and in FIGS. 1 and 2 the centre lines of the projections are indicated to illustrate how the reinforcement is held against horizontal movement.

Plastics material is now forced into the die cavity and completely embeds the reinforcement. It also embeds the hinge strap 41 referred to above. When the moulding is completed and the plastic material is solid, the pneumatic jacks 84 are operated to retract the projec' tions 76 and the cavity is opened by raising the upper platen 56 which moves the outer members 62 outwardly and thus disengages the projections 86 from the frame member and the latter can then be moved from the die cavity and a further moulding operation carried out with a fresh reinforcement.

Referring now to FIG. 9, this shows part of a frame member as it leaves the mould after retraction of the projections 76 and 86. Assuming that FIG. 9 shows part of an outer frame member it will be seen that the covering 23 has pairs of aligned bores therein, one pair of bores being indicated at 90 and 91. It will be seen that these bores are generally cylindrical and terminate at their inner ends at the bottoms of the grooves 31 and 28 respectively. It will be appreciated that for each pair of projections 76 and 86 there will be a corresponding pair of bores 90 and 91.

Referring now to FIG. 10, this shows a pilot bush 92 received within the bore 91. The pilot bush has a bore 93 of lesser diameter than the bore 91 and the bore 93 provides guidance for a drill, not shown, whereby an aperture 94 can be drilled through the reinforcement 22 in alignment with the bores 90 and 91. Obviously the diameter of the aperture 94 will be less than the diameter of the bores 90 and 91.

Referring now to FIG. 11, this shows a bushing indicated generally at 95 received in the bores 90, 91 and the aperture 94.

The bushing comprises two parts. A first part indicated generally at 96 and having a hollow shank 97 which is a close fit in the aperture 94. At one end of the shank 97 there is provided a collar 98 which is a close fit in the bore 91 and has conical surfaces 99 and 100, the former surface engaging the diverging side walls 32 of the groove 31 and the latter providing a counter sunk aperture for receiving a head of a fastener as will hereinafter be described.

The second part of the bushing is indicated at 101 and is a close fit in the bore 90 and has a conical surface l02 which engages the diverging side walls 29 of the groove 28. The second part 101 is in the form of a ring and received within the part 101 is the end portion 103 of the shank 97 remote from the collar 98.

The collar 98 is sealed in the bore 91 and the second part 101 is sealed in the bore 90 and is also sealed to the portion 103 of the shank 97. It follows from the foregoing that the reinforcement 22 is completely sealed and protected by its covering 23 and the bushing 95.

The bushing may be sealed in the bores 90 and 91 in any convenient manner. Thus it may be adhered in the bores and the part 101 may be adhered to the portion 103. Alternatively, the bushing if made of synthetic resinous material may be welded in the bores by any convenient form of welding e.g. solvent welding, friction welding, or ultra-sonic welding.

FIG. 11 shows how the frame member is connected to a bracket 104 by means of a fastener 105 comprising a nut and bolt the bolt 106 being received in the shank 97 and passing through an aperture in the bracket and being secured thereto by a nut 107. As shown, in FIG. 11 the outer part of the window frame is secured to the supporting wall 35 by the bracket 104 which is secured to said wall by a screw 108.

It will be appreciated that bushings such as 95 will be inserted into as many pairs of aligned bores such as 90 and 91 as are required to fix the frame member to another member such as a supporting wall 35. It will be appreciated, however, that the other member to which the frame member is connected could be a further frame member or any other member not merely a wall. The provision of the bushing protects the reinforcement against attack while at the same time providing a very convient bore for the fastener 105.

It may be that in some frame members it is not required to put a bushing in each aligned pair of bores such 90 and 91 and in such case the bores may be filled with plugs of synthetic resinous material such as indicated in FIG. 12. The plugs are indicated at 109 and are received in the bores and are secured in sealing engagemerit therewith either by being adhered by the bores or by being welded therein as described above in relation to the parts of the bushing. It is apparent that where plugs such as 109 are being used it is unnecessary to drill the reinforcement to provide an aperture such as 94.

It will be seen that the invention provides an aperture defining frame member with bushings therein whereby the member can be fixed to another member. The invention has been described in detail in connection with a closed frame member i.e. a window frame but the invention can be applied to an open frame member as described at the begining of this specification.

We claim:

1. An aperture-defining frame member comprising a rigid, frame-shaped reinforcement embedded in a covering of synthetic resinous material, the reinforcement presenting a transverse cross-section having opposed sides each having an outwardly directed groove with diverging side walls, at least one bushing of synthetic resinous material extending through aligned bores in the covering and in the reinforcement, the bores in the covering being of larger diameter than the bore in the reinforcement which extends between said opposed sides and terminates in openings in the side walls of the grooves, the bushing having a central portion received iii the bore in the reinforcement and end portions having cylindrical parts received in sealing engagement with the bores in the covering and conical parts in sealing engagement with the side walls of the grooves adjacent to said openings said bushing being adapted to receive a fastener for securing said frame member to a supporting structure.

2. A frame member according to claim 1 wherein the bushing is in two parts, a first part having a shank which provides the central portion and a collar at one end of the shank which provides one of said end portions and a second part which provides the other end portion and which sealingly engages with the end of the shank remote from the collar.

3. A frame member according to claim 1 wherein the end portions of the bushing are welded in position in said bores in the covering.

4. A frame member according to claim 1 wherein the end portions of the bushing are adhered in position in said bores in the covering.

gg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 g Dated Aggust 6, L974 lnventofl Herbert John Sharp and vim-av 'wjijmstanlgfiumphrey It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Page 1, the identification of the assignee should read as follows:

---GKN Sankey Limited, Bilston, Staffordshire, England and Aro Plastics Development Limited, London, England-- Signed and sealed this 4th day Of Marsh 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer I n and Trademarks 

1. An aperture-defining frame member comprising a rigid, frameshaped reinforcement embedded in a covering of synthetic resinous material, the reinforcement presenting a transverse cross-section having opposed sides each having an outwardly directed groove with diverging side walls, at least one bushing of synthetic resinous material extending through aligned bores in the covering and in the reinforcement, the bores in the covering being of larger diameter than the bore in the reinforcement which extends between said opposed sides and terminates in openings in the side walls of the grooves, the bushing having a central portion received in the bore in the reinforcement and end portions having cylindrical parts received in sealing engagement with the bores in the covering and conical parts in sealing engagement with the side walls of the grooves adjacent to said openings said bushing being adapted to receive a fastener for securing said frame member to a supporting structure.
 2. A frame member according to claim 1 wherein the bushing is in two parts, a first part having a shank which provides the central portion and a collar at one end of the shank which provides one of said end portions and a second part which provides the other end portion and which sealingly engages with the end of the shank remote from the collar.
 3. A frame member according to claim 1 wherein the end portions of the bushing are welded in position in said bores in the covering.
 4. A frame member according to claim 1 wherein the end portions of the bushing are adhered in position in said bores in the covering. 